melodies are sweet and pleasant:  he is master of his art, if he would but put a little clarity into his poems, which are difficult to understand.”  The last observation is entirely correct:  his poems are often very obscure.  Peire travelled, in the pursuit of his profession, to the court of Sancho III. of Castile and made some stay in Spain:  he is also found at the courts of Raimon V. of Toulouse and, like Peire Rogier, at Narbonne.  Among his poems, two are especially well known.  In a love poem he makes the nightingale his messenger, as Marcabrun had [68] used the starling and as others used the swallow or parrot.  But in comparison with Marcabrun, Peire d’Auvergne worked out the idea with a far more delicate poetical touch.  The other poem is a sirventes which is of interest as being the first attempt at literary satire among the troubadours; the satire is often rather of a personal than of a literary character; the following quotations referring to troubadours already named will show Peire’s ideas of literary criticism.  “Peire Rogier sings of love without restraint and it would befit him better to carry the psalter in the church or to bear the lights with the great burning candles.  Guiraut de Bornelh is like a sun-bleached cloth with his thin miserable song which might suit an old Norman water-carrier.  Bernart de Ventadour is even smaller than Guiraut de Bornelh by a thumb’s length; but he had a servant for his father who shot well with the long bow while his mother tended the furnace.”  The satiric sirventes soon found imitators:  the Monk of Montaudon produced a similar composition.  Like many other troubadours, Peire ended his life in a monastery.  To this period of his career probably, belong his religious poems of which we shall have occasion to speak later.

We have already observed that the Church contributed members, though with some reluctance, to the ranks of the troubadours.  One of the most [69] striking figures of the kind is the Monk of Montaudon (1180-1200):  the satirical power of his sirventes attracted attention, and he gained much wealth at the various courts which he visited; this he used for the benefit of his priory.  He enjoyed the favour of Philippe Auguste II. of France, of Richard Coeur de Lion and of Alfonso II. of Aragon, with that of many smaller nobles.  The biography says of him, “E fo faitz seigner de la cort del Puoi Santa Maria e de dar l’esparvier.  Lone temps ac la seignoria de la cort del Puoi, tro que la cortz se perdet.”  “He was made president of the court of Puy Sainte Marie and of awarding the sparrow-hawk.  For a long time he held the presidency of the court of Puy, until the court was dissolved.”  The troubadour Richard de Barbezieux refers to this court, which seems to have been a periodical meeting attended by the nobles and troubadours of Southern Prance.  Tournaments and poetical contests were held; the sparrow-hawk or falcon placed on a pole is often mentioned as the prize awarded to the tournament victor.  Tennyson’s version of the incident in his “Geraint and Enid” will occur to every reader.  The monk’s reputation must have been considerable to gain him this position.  His love poems are of little importance; his satire deals with the petty failings of mankind, for which he had a keen eye and an unsparing and sometimes cynical [70] tongue.